Traffic backed up for hours after two serious crashes

A series of crashes on the southbound portion of Interstate 95 early Thursday morning left three people hospitalized — two facing life-threatening injuries — and backed up traffic for about five hours before the lanes were cleared by the Florida Highway Patrol.

The first incident involved three related crashes and occurred at Mile Marker 323, just south of CR-210, and the other happened just north of Mile Marker 327, north of International Golf Parkway. The second crash was a result of backed-up traffic from the first accidents.

FHP spokesman Sgt. Dylan Bryan said it all began shortly before 5 a.m., when a black 2012 Honda Accord driven by Jennifer Leigh Edwards, 23, of St. Augustine rear-ended a tanker truck carrying bleach driven by Roy Allan Schultz of Jacksonville, north of International Golf Parkway.

After that collision, Schultz pulled over to the shoulder and Edwards got out of her vehicle, which was disabled in the center lane, to talk to Schultz. Then a silver 2002 Honda Accord driven by Shelley Mardin Prendes, 48, also of St. Augustine, sideswiped Edwards' Honda then struck Edwards, who was standing on the shoulder.

Shortly after that, a tractor-trailer truck driven by Juan Tomas Sariento, 37, of Jacksonville, also ran into the black Honda, crushing it against the guard rail in the median. Edwards was airlifted to Orange Park Medical Center's trauma unit with life-threatening injuries.

FHP is treating the first incident as three crashes, Bryan said. No other injuries were involved in this incident.

The second incident took place about two hours later near Mile Marker 327, just south of County Road 210, Bryan said. He said that accident occurred when a 2013 Ford Explorer driven by James Nealy Harris, 38, of Palm Coast, struck a tractor-trailer rig and a black car before flipping and hitting another car.

Bryan said Harris likely had not realized that traffic had been slowed. Harris was taken to Baptist Medical Center with serious injuries, and Jolie Lynn Peterson Hoyt, the driver of a 2010 Hyundai Elantra that Harris hit, was airlifted to Orange Park Medical Center in critical condition.

Interstate 95 southbound lanes were cleared just before 11 a.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Here are the earlier stories:

How accident happened:

About 5:30 a.m. a black Honda struck the rear of a southbound tanker carrying bleach north of International Golf Parkway. The truck driver pulled over and the woman driving the Honda stopped in the center lane, where she got out to check on the trucker, the Highway Patrol said.

The driver of a southbound silver Honda failed to take evasive action and hit the car in the center lane, lost control and struck the woman, who suffered life-threatening injuries, the FHP said.

A second tractor-trailer rig then struck the black Honda and came to rest in the median.

About 45 minutes later, a crash in traffic just south of County Road 210 occurred when a Ford Explorer’s driver took evasive action after not realizing traffic was slowed. It struck a tractor-trailer rig and a black car before flipping and hitting another car. The Explorer driver suffered serious injuries while the driver of the black vehicle was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

All the victims were taken to Orange Park Medical Center. No names have been released.

Earlier articles:

Traffic is backed up on Interstate 95 southbound from just north of International Golf Parkway into Duval County. Traffic southbound is limited to one lane. The Florida Highway Patrol recommends drivers take US 1 south from Duval into St. Johns County.

The FHP expects to reopen I-95 by about 10 a.m.

One of the accidents appears to be a fatal.

Earlier article:

Crashes have snarled traffic on I 95 north of St. Augustine this morning.

Two major crashes earlier this morning have resulted in a major traffic back up just north of County Road 210 on I 95 southbound. The accidents occurred at Mile Marker 323, just south of CR-210, and the other at Mile Marker 327, just north of International Golf Parkway.

The public is advised to avoid this area and take U.S. 1 as an alternate route. It is anticipated that the area will be cleared at approximately 10 a.m.

The two recent accidents followed a 5:15 a.m. potentially fatal crash on I 95 southbound near International Golf Parkway.

The Record news partner First Coast News reported that accident involved a semi and several other vehicles. One car is smashed underneath the semi.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there are potentially fatal injuries involved in the crash. Life flight was used to transport the injured.

Two southbound lanes of I-95 at IGP were blocked as crews worked the scene.

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More than two thousand years ago the Romans only allowed deliveries at night. Perhaps we could learn a lesson and only allow the Big Rigs to only roll during the night. Restrict them to the outskirts of the cities and have smaller delivery vans deliver the cargo's into the cities.
Maybe even have them regulated as to emissions like the rest of us, instead of the large pipes aiming for the ozone layer.
I can hear the howls already. It was the Honda drivers! It was a woman driver. The "Explorer" guy wasn't paying attention. The Big Rigs are just cuddly teddy bears at heart!
Combine a Big Rig and a driver talking on his cell and this is the result. Why else from his superior height in his cab, did he not see what was going on and stop his massive pile before it caused chaos?
Hopefully the day is coming when Airships will be replacing the massive pollution spewing, chaos causing Tractor/trailers.....

We could compare real world statistics, which prove how much better drivers the large rig operators are compared to Mr or Mrs Honda.
Or how Mr Truck Driver has to take drug tests to maintain his license, compared to Mr Honda.
Or how Mr Truck Driver has to follow a logbook schedule (now verified by GPS) to prove they aren't behind the wheel too long at one time, compared to Mrs Honda.
And we could send the above poster to a simple physics class, so they might understand 50,000 lbs doesn't immediately stop when things go wrong.

driving the Honda caused the initial accident and stopped in the center lane to check on the semi driver. how stupid is that? isn't it just common sense to pull off to the side of the road? isn't that what we are all taught as student drivers? and then some other idiot hits the car and the woman because they weren't paying attention. this accident was in no way caused by a semi.